GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS SMIDSWATER ADVOCATEN

To make transparent which agreements apply when you work with Smidswater advocaten, we use these general terms and conditions.

Definitions

1. The terms used in these terms and conditions shall have the following meaning:
   a) Client: the Lawyer’s client.
   b) Firm: the Partnership and, both jointly and individually, the Lawyers, being either a natural person or a legal entity.
   c) GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation.
   d) Lawyer: any lawyer working for and affiliated with the Firm.
   e) Partnership: the partnership Smidswater advocaten, whose members include Ms. C.B.M. Bonnier, Ms. F.A.M. van Bree and Ms. S.A. van Dijkum.

Applicability

2. These general conditions apply to every agreement for services and follow-up agreements for services between a Lawyer and a Client. The applicability of other general conditions is expressly rejected.
3. Deviations from these general terms and conditions may only be made in writing.

Engagement

4. An agreement for services between a Client and a Lawyer will only come into existence when the Lawyer accepts a Client’s instructions. An agreement for services is entered into with the Lawyer. An agreement for services is deemed to have been accepted (i) when the Lawyer has confirmed the agreement to the Client, or (ii) when the Client accepts a draft (transaction) document prepared or a personal advice by the Lawyer at the Client’s request.
5. In the event that the Lawyer is temporarily or permanently prevented, from personally carrying out the engagement, by force majeure the matter will be handled by another Lawyer affiliated with the Firm or an external law firm to be designated by the Partnership. In such a case, the Client is deemed to consent with the replacement of the Lawyer by another Lawyer from the Firm or the external law firm.
6. Third parties cannot derive any rights from the services provided by Smidswater advocaten to a Client.

Fees and invoices

7. Unless agreed otherwise, Smidswater advocaten will invoice on the basis of time worked at the agreed hourly rates, plus specific expenses incurred in the execution of an agreement for services, including courier costs paid on behalf of the Client, travel and accommodation expenses, registration costs, court registry fees and costs, including interest, of persons and banks not connected to Smidswater advocaten. The Lawyer is entitled to adjust the agreed fees as of January 1 of each calendar year in connection with inflation correction. The fees due by the Client and costs payable by the Client will be increased by turnover tax (VAT) where applicable in accordance with the law, unless the Client is based in another member state of the European Union and has provided Smidswater advocaten with a valid VAT number or is based outside the European Union.
8. The Client may notify Smidswater advocaten in writing of any objections to an invoice up to thirty days after the date of the invoice. If the Client fails to timely notify Smidswater advocaten, the invoice is deemed to have been accepted.
9. Smidswater advocaten invoices monthly and the payment term is 14 days after the invoice date, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Lawyer and the Client.

Liability

10. Any liability of the Lawyer is limited to the amount that is actually paid out or will be paid out for the relevant claim under the liability insurance taken out by or on behalf of the Lawyer, plus the amount of the applicable excess. This limitation of the Lawyer’s liability applies regardless of whether the liability arises from a contract, the law or any other legal basis.
11. Liability for damage not covered by any insurance is limited to the total amount of the fees charged to the Client in respect of that relevant engagement, with a maximum of EUR 10,000.
12. All claims and rights of action against the Lawyer expire twelve months after the day on which the Client became aware or could reasonably have become aware of the existence of these rights of action or the damage and possible liability of the Lawyer, respectively.
13. The Lawyer is not liable for shortcomings of third parties involved in the execution of the engagement, who are not employed by the Partnership.
14. The Client shall indemnify the Lawyers against all claims by third parties for which the Lawyers’ liability is limited in Articles 10 to 12 inclusive. This indemnification also includes the costs related thereto. A “third party” is also any group company of the Client, shareholder of the Client, director and supervisory director of the Client and person working at or for the Client and any family member of the Client.

Data Protection

15. All electronic communications, including e-mail, shall be deemed to be in writing. Smidswater advocaten uses digital communications, data storage and cloud computing services in the course of its business. The Client consents to and acknowledges that electronic communications are not secure. Smidswater advocaten is not liable if electronic communications are intercepted, manipulated, delayed, misdirected or infected with a virus. In the event that the Client acts in the exercise of a profession or business, the applicability of article 6:227b paragraph 1 of the Civil Code, which relates to the provision of information in electronic commerce, and of article 6:227c of the Civil Code, which relates to the manner in which agreements are entered into in electronic commerce, is excluded.
16. By entering into an agreement for services, the Client consents to the processing of his/her personal data (including name, date of birth, address, place of residence, telephone number, Citizen’s Service Number) for the purposes of the provision of services and the collection of claims, subject to the Firm’s Privacy Statement, as published on the Firm’s website.
17. Smidswater advocaten will retain electronic or paper files at least seven years after the last substantive communication with the Client in the case concerned. After this period has expired, Smidswater advocaten may destroy these files without notifying the Client.
18. The Client shall indemnify Smidswater advocaten, the Lawyers and other persons affiliated with Smidswater advocaten against any third party claims and other damages suffered by Smidswater advocaten, the Lawyers, and a person affiliated with Smidswater advocaten in connection with any alleged unlawful processing of personal data in the context of the agreement for services, insofar as Smidswater advocaten has received such personal data from the Client or on the instructions of the Client.
19. The Client shall provide the information required under the GDPR on the processing of personal data in the context of the assignment to the data subject. The Client will do so within the applicable time period under the GDPR. Smidswater advocaten will be the contact point for data subjects exercising their rights under the GDPR against it.
20. Each of the parties will inform the other without unreasonable delay as soon as it becomes aware of a breach in connection with personal data processed in the context of the agreement for services. The Client and Smidswater advocaten shall consult with each other prior to making any notifications thereof to supervisors and data subjects.
21. Each of the parties shall inform the other without unreasonable delay as soon as he/she becomes aware of an investigation by a supervisor in connection with personal data processed in the context of the assignment.

Professional rules and compliance

22. For complaints about the services provided by the Lawyer or the amount of an invoice, a complaints procedure applies within the Firm. This is published on the website www.smidswateradvocaten.nl and will be sent upon first request.
23. Complaints must be filed in writing within six months after the fact giving rise to the complaint came to the knowledge of the Client (or must reasonably be assumed to have come to the knowledge of the Client). A complaint filed outside this period will no longer be considered by the Firm on the basis of the Complaints Procedure.
24. Disputes arising from the performance of the services of the Lawyer, including all disputes on invoices, can be settled by the civil court. The court in The Hague has exclusive jurisdiction, subject to the right of the Lawyer, as plaintiff, to submit the dispute to the court of the Client’s place of residence. Disputes can also be settled in accordance with the Regulations of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
25. Smidswater advocaten is required by law to establish the identity of its Clients. The Client will provide Smidswater advocaten with the information that Smidswater advocaten or third parties or banks engaged by it require in order to comply with obligations to establish the identity of Clients and persons connected with them (including obligations under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act). Smidswater advocaten is obliged to report unusual transactions to the competent authority(ies) without being allowed to inform the Client.
26. Smidswater advocaten will comply with any other reporting or information obligation that applies or becomes applicable to it.

Other

27. These general terms and conditions are available in Dutch and English. Should there be any conflict between the Dutch and English, the Dutch version shall prevail.
28. Smidswater advocaten may amend these General Terms and Conditions from time to time and without prior notice. The amended terms and conditions will apply to all subsequent legal relationships with the Client.
29. All legal relationships with Smidswater advocaten are governed by Dutch law.